Chapter 9 Athens Earthquake

There was a strong earthquake in Greece on September 7 this year. After the earthquake, astrologers announced that there would still be earthquakes from October 1 to 3. The government was a little annoyed by this chaotic prediction, so they refuted it in the newspaper, I want everyone not to believe it.But it is very difficult for everyone not to believe in this kind of thing, so they are all waiting for these few days. A few days ago we knocked on the door of the Dafni Monastery and were not allowed to enter because it was damaged by the earthquake on September 7th and is being repaired.When we looked at the fence, it really collapsed and is now surrounded by iron bars.Unwilling to come here in vain, we climbed to the back mountain to look at it from a high place, and it was sad to see it, because all the maintenance personnel and security personnel lived in blue tents in the open space, which shows that the damage is indeed serious.This is a famous monastery integrating Romanesque, Byzantine and Gothic architecture. It was severely damaged by the earthquake in 1954, and it was again this year.We worry about the fulfillment of astrologers' early October predictions.

Today is October 2nd, which is exactly the day that was prophesied, but when I was busy, I forgot it.Xu Gehui lived next door to me. Today's journey made her very tired, and she fell asleep as soon as she came back.At 8:00 p.m., I felt the desk shaking. I stood up and found that the ground was also moving. Before I could make a judgment, the phone rang. It was Xu Gehui: Teacher Qiuyu, the earthquake, can I escape? escape!As soon as I finished speaking, there was a bang, and she jumped out of the room and stood in the corridor. At this time, Xu Gehui was wearing pajamas. When he rushed out, he grabbed the light yellow overalls and wrapped them around his body. He was only wearing a pair of socks, but he was carrying a pair of sneakers in his hand.She quickly explained to me: I read a book on earthquake prevention knowledge, saying that there are a lot of broken glass on the ground after the earthquake, so I need to carry a pair of shoes.

I asked: So shall we go downstairs? She said: How do I look like this? I said: Then put on your clothes. She said: The key is locked inside. So, I had to go to my room, call the hotel room department, and ask them to send the key to open the door. The staff in the room department was very polite, and said to Xu Gehui on the phone: No problem, you can go to the main desk to pick up the key! Xu Gehui said: Now there is an earthquake, I can't get down. earthquake?Housekeeping didn't seem to notice at all, but they promised to send the keys. While waiting for the keys, Xu Gehui and I stood on the balcony and discussed our escape plan.This is mainly due to the influence of the astrologer, who felt that the big earthquake really came, and it was just a pre-shock just now.My plan is: this hotel has only five floors in total, we are on the top floor, and the balcony is big, so there should be no problem standing on the balcony.

Xu Gehui said it was wrong. The earthquake collapsed the building and it was impossible for us to fall in balance. It was a kind of disordered distortion. We had to find a small solid structure in the building and hide under it. But where is this little structure?No one knows.We have all heard that it is better to hide in the toilet, the structure is small, and there is water. Just as we were talking, an elderly waitress came with a key, smiling all over her face, as if mocking us kindly: Yes, an earthquake! Xu Gehui stretched his head to look at the other balconies, and then at the street downstairs, and found that the whole of Athens was calm and safe.She was very angry and said, don't they really have feelings?

From this, I think that as long as it does not directly cause harm, the security that everyone needs is actually a sense of security, and most people's sense of security is based on the expressions of others. Greece may not give people safety, but it will always give people a sense of security. The reason is that it is too old, has experienced too much, and its psychological flexibility to accept disasters exceeds the disaster itself.On the contrary, if there is a lack of psychological resilience, what hurts us the most is not the disaster itself, but the kind of self-scaring, just like hearing the siren trampled to death.

Therefore, in most cases, we would rather be the unhurried passerby on the street than the astrologer who predicts disaster.Stupidity makes people calm, small wisdom makes people flustered, and great wisdom makes people stable.Our culture should move from small wisdom to great wisdom.The Greeks have a little of this flair, but I hope it's not too dull. Soon there was a broadcast saying that the earthquake just now was less than magnitude five.It can be seen that it is not our oversensitivity.Ge Hui was still not convinced, and said: I was already sensible during the Tangshan earthquake, which is almost the same as before.

Of course, there are dangers in taking it easy, because after all, there are still real catastrophes in the world.On the night of the great earthquake in Taiwan not long ago, I was flying over Taiwan, and I pulled up the curtains and looked down for a while, completely unaware of the huge disaster under my feet. Later, I felt a sense of guilt when I thought about it. Many of my Taiwanese friends, how are you doing now? On the night of October 2, 1999, Athens, Greece, stayed overnight at the Royal Olympic Hotel